Archive for July 15th, 2009

Richmond in south-west London is home to one of England’s oldest rugby clubs, dating back to 1861. The sport has moved on a bit since then, but a spot of sunshine, the end of a long season and players, even with more than 800 Test caps between them, will try anything to dodge training.
The squad gathered at the Richmond Athletic Ground was the Barbarians – one of the most famous invitational teams in all sport, as they prepared to take on England at Twickenham.
The lone New Zealand autograph hunter thought he had died and gone to heaven, with eight All Blacks in the Barbarians squad. Historians among them would have noted that Richmond played the 1905 All Blacks ‘Originals’ at the Athletic Ground.
The excuse for the lack of urgency at training was nobody knew what laws they were playing under at Twickenham, until a call to Rugby Football Union headquarters. When it came to the game itself, despite a Barbarians victory, former All Blacks wing Doug Howlett discovered that even with his distinctive bouncy curls he was still several inches shorter than giant England wing Matt Banahan, who plucked a bomb from the Auckland man’s clutches for one of England’s tries.
Howlett has another season on his contract with Irish province Munster, but has already become wedded to the rich and rare rugby culture of this region of south-west Ireland. Likewise the Munster supporters have been so taken with the Aucklander they are convinced there must be Cork ancestry there somewhere.
If you go to Europe for an easy ride at the twilight of your career, you do not go to Munster. If you go to test yourself in one of rugby’s fiercest, but friendliest, environments where team spirit fills more pints than Guinness on St Patrick’s Day you go to Munster.
A pretty boy wing showing off his medals, but with neither steel nor heart to fill the red jersey, would not last five minutes in the streets of Limerick, yet alone the changing room or playing field of Munster’s furnace of fanaticism Thomond Park.
“My skin has got a lot thicker since being at Munster. The slagging is relentless. It certainly keeps everyone grounded, be you an All Black or a Lions captain,” said Howlett, capped 62 times by New Zealand.
By Lions captain, Howlett is referring to his Munster skipper Paul O’Connell, currently leading the British and Irish Lions in South Africa. “Paul is a fantastic player who leads from the front. He is someone you follow into battle.”
When Howlett, 30, retires, he can look back on having played for two of rugby’s great institutions. For a New Zealander nothing can touch an All Black, but the red of Munster is the closest non-international rugby comes to creating a similar aura.
When he flicks through his video library in his dotage, will it be Howlett’s All Blacks debut and two tries against Tonga in 2000 – he has Tongan heritage – going onto a record-breaking 49 tries for his country? His hat-trick against Australia in 2005? Or Tri Nations and Bledisloe Cup triumphs, or the Super 12 title for his native Auckland?
No, it may well be a Limerick night last November, when, in the colours of Munster at Thomond Park, Howlett, with Rua Tipoki, Lifeimi Mafi and Jeremy Manning, performed the Haka in front of the All Blacks.
“Without doubt one of the highlights of my entire career. It was a special, special occasion – an occasion that allowed for it. We looked at the Haka history, went through the proper protocols and got the blessing of Munster to do it because we were doing it as Munstermen,” said Howlett. “The crowd reaction was extraordinary. I feel I have gained so much with Munster, both professionally and personally and experiences I can take home with me and learn from.”
While Europe knew all about his pace, positional sense and attacking verve, the northern hemisphere has been equally impressed by Howlett’s defence and work in the trenches, with Howlett making his tackles, hungry for work and hitting the rucks.
There is another season with Munster and a European title to regain. Howlett won the Heineken Cup in his first season with Munster, beating Toulouse in Cardiff in 2008, but this year they lost to great Irish rivals, and eventual champions, Leinster in the semi-finals, with the small consolation of the Magners League title.
Howlett’s Heineken triumph at the Millennium Stadium would have gone a little way to erasing the memories of Cardiff 2007, when he was left out of the New Zealand squad for the World Cup quarter-final against France, despite being in outstanding form. The rest is a tale of broken dreams and shattered cars. Did I bring up the London Heathrow car park incident? No, a YouTube apology is shame enough for a moment of madness from one of the game’s gentlemen.
“In terms of my future, I will see how the body holds up and how my wife Monique feels. I am really enjoying my time here, but it would be nice to return to New Zealand and put something back.” Howlett already is through his Outreach Foundation, helping underprivileged kids pursue their sporting dreams.
“I would love to play more Test rugby and if I was asked by the All Blacks I am hardly going to say no, but New Zealand is not the kind of team you just walk back into.”
He better return to New Zealand quick before his two-year-old son Charlie turns totally Irish.
“His accent is a curious mix or Cork and Kiwi at the moment. Charlie has given my life a fantastic balance and I love spending time with him. Fortunately he is showing early signs of pace as I do not want him to be a forward.”
Howlett senior, a champion sprinter in his youth, has plenty of rugby left to run whatever the colour of the jersey.

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